- The city of Syracuse, N.Y., has a higher debt rating than the U.S. government.

- Irony moment: There will probably be a “flight to safety” across the world as a result of this. What’s the safest asset? U.S. Treasury bills. So yields will probably go down as a result of this.

- The U.S. owes almost $2 trillion to … itself. The Federal Reserve owns $1.6 trillion in T-bills. The U.S. can roll this debt over forever. The S&P ignores this.

- Alexander Hamilton, the first Treasury secretary, had to deal with an inflation-adjusted $1 trillion in debt. The U.S. has always been in debt and had a much worse debt-to-GDP ratio issue after World War II. The U.S. pays back debt through economic growth.

- On Twitter someone asked me, “So, do you compare Hamilton with Geithner?” I guess they were being sarcastic. My response: Geithner opposes slavery.

- Regardless of this debt downgrade, more people will buy iPads from Apple this year than last, more people will make Google searches this year than last, more people will buy cars from GM this year than last, and more people will buy gas from Exxon-Mobil this year than last, more people will have Sirius-XM radios installed in their cars than last, and more prostate-cancer patients will extend their lives with Denderon’s Provenge than last. I’m sure that’s true for several thousand other companies as well.

- “Debt ratings” of the most highly liquid bonds on the planet should be determined by one thing only: Yield (in the absence of other information about our ability to default). That makes U.S. bonds the safest AAAAA+ bonds in the world.

Disclosures: I own zero U.S. debt. I own DNDN stock for a short-term trade. I own America wherever I can. <a href=”http://twitter.com/jaltucher“>Please follow me</a> on twitter for more comments throughout the day on the downgrade and the future upgrade of U.S. markets.

About This is Insane!

Columnist James Altucher will be blogging through the day whenever he sees or hears something that he thinks is wrong, out of whack or just plain ridiculous.

James Altucher is managing director of Formula Capital, an alternative asset management firm. In addition to this blog, he writes a weekly column for Marketwatch.com, and blogs for the Wall Street Journal’s Financial Adviser blog. He has written for Forbes, the New York Post, TheStreet.com, the Daily Beast, and many other publications. Altucher also is the author of six books. His latest two are: “The WSJ Guide to Investing in the Apocalypse” and “How to be the Luckiest Man Alive.” Before that he started Stockpickr.com and sold it to TheStreet.com. Before that he failed, succeeded, was hired and fired from at least 10 other businesses and jobs. All of his books are available at Amazon.com but only the last two are worth the paper they are printed on. Tips for blog items are welcome; send to jaltformula@aol.com. Follow James on Twitter @jaltucher.